Thesis Child Theme Starter Template

Does Thesis support child themes? That is a question many users have. The answer is definitively “yes”.

This tutorial will show you the best way to make a child theme for Thesis. We’ll start with a barebones class, then add in some flair to show you the possibilities. I think you’ll be delighted by how simple making a child theme with Thesis really is.

If you aren’t familiar with the Thesis Custom Loop API, quickly run over it as it is the foundation for what we’ll cover here.

The Basics

Every child theme needs to have, at the very least, a style.css. In theory, your whole child theme could simply be that one file. The basic example includes the necessary header information and one line of CSS.

The functions.php file, though not required by WordPress, is where all of your Thesis child theme customizations should occur. Do not include a custom folder with child themes! Thesis custom folders belong to Thesis, not the child theme.

It is important to point out that WordPress treats child themes in an interesting way. The child theme’s functions.php file is actually included before the parent theme’s. That means that each Thesis child theme must first include Thesis’ functions.php file in order to access the yummy Thesis goodness contained within.

You may also notice that we are using a class instead of a bunch of disparate functions. This is for a few reasons:

To use the Custom Loop API

Better organization

Classes are how you will interact with Thesis 2.0, so you need to understand them